The H-bridge circuit can be composed of two half-bridge circuits. For this purpose, the power semiconductor module has four power semiconductor chips.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,618 discloses a power semiconductor module, the power semiconductor module having an insulating housing, in which a multiplicity of metal mounting plates are arranged in a plane and are electrically insulated from one another in the housing. Semiconductor switches of a rectifier bridge are electrically conductively mounted on the metal mounting plates. Connecting leads are electrically connected to the semiconductor switches, at least one connecting lead being electrically connected to the metal mounting plates.
Said power semiconductor module has the disadvantage that the connecting leads project as lead pins far from the housing and are individually anchored in the housing by one end, such that there is the risk of the connecting leads breaking out from the housing in the event of mechanical loading, which jeopardizes the reliability of the bridge circuit.
What is more, the mechanical construction of the H-bridge circuit that is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,618 requires various power semiconductor chips mounted in a special leadframe. For the mechanical construction of the known H-bridge circuit, use is made in this case of two separate low-side switches and a double high-side switch in the form of power semiconductor chips which are mounted on mutually insulated lead mounting plates. For this purpose, the double high-side switch is mounted on a central lead mounting plate, while the low-side switches are mechanically and electrically fixed on two lead mounting plates arranged laterally with respect to the central lead mounting plate. This H-bridge circuit is controlled via the gate electrodes of the power semiconductor chips, with the result that additional external drive circuits disadvantageously become necessary for specific applications.